Three held for alleged robbery

Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Square (SARS) has arrested three persons for allegedly robbing a driver at gun point.

They are: Aliu Abubakar, 22, Anas Mohammed, 20 and Aliu Adamu, 30.

SARS said they allegedly robbed a driver conveying orange fruit juice at 5am around Cassidi Bus stop at Okokomaiko in Lagos, last month. They pointed a gun and machete at the driver and the conductor, robbed them of their phones and N27, 000 cash.

The driver identified one of the suspects when he and the owner of the goods were invited by the police after arresting the gang.

Abubakar said he never used a gun to rob due to his burnt fingers.

He said: “See my hands, I cannot trigger a gun but I can use machete. It was when my parents couldn’t take care of me that I took to robbery. To feed myself, I did scrap picking. One kilo of scrap is sold for N750. I spend N500 to buy it with N250 gain daily. We have operated over 10 times. We are five in the group but only three of us were arrested. I had once been remanded for stealing at Kirikiri Medium Prison where I spent three months. We steal phones and hand bags in traffic jams or during rush hours. Our leader is Shibushele and he is the one in charge of the gun while others use machete.”

Mohammed said he was arrested at his Okokomaiko residence.

“I am a butcher. I sell meat at Odo-eran market in Ojo Army Cantonment, Mammy Market in Lagos. I used to get N700 daily. I participated in the last robbery but I was given a token of N8, 000,” he said.

Adamu also a butcher denied being a member of the gang.

“I only bought mobile phones from Aliu because he sold them at cheaper rates. I knew him as a scrap person. I knew that they were robbers but I never followed them to rob,” he said.